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Stanton looks to heat up at plate

3/26/13: Giancarlo Stanton crushes a solo home run to right field, giving the Marlins a quick 1-0 lead

By Joe Frisaro
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MLB.com |

NEW YORK -- Good or bad, everything tends to get magnified early in the season.

Marlins slugger Giancarlo Stanton is going through that right now. The All-Star right fielder has yet to heat up at the plate.

Through the first four games, he was 2-for-14 with seven strikeouts. Both hits were doubles, including a laser to deep center field in the eighth inning of Friday's 7-5 win over the Mets at Citi Field.

A year ago, he missed most of Spring Training with a sore knee. Stanton ended up batting .247 with one home run and nine RBIs in 73 at-bats in April of 2012. But in May, he bounced back, hitting .343 with 12 homers and 30 RBIs, and he was named the National League Player of the Month.

"Everybody wants to get off to a great start," manager Mike Redmond said. "Sometimes as players, we try to do too much and maybe get out of our approach a little bit.

"Also saying that, he's had some walks. Sometimes one good swing gets you back on track. That ball he hit [Friday] was a laser beam."